125-570: Halesowen ( / h eɪ l z ˈ oʊ . ɪ n / haylz- OH -in ) is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley , in the county of the West Midlands , England. Historically an exclave of Shropshire and, from 1844, in Worcestershire , the town is around 7 miles (11 km) from Birmingham city centre, and 6 miles (10 km) from Dudley town centre. The population at
250-531: A Norman church, a football ground (where non-league Halesowen Town play) and Halesowen College which was founded in 1939. Most of the housing stock in Halesowen is privately owned and was built in the 30 years which followed the end of the Second World War , although some parts of the town are still made up of Victorian and Edwardian terraced houses . The town centre was almost completely rebuilt during
375-525: A grammar school established in 1552, converting to a sixth form centre in 1976. A small number of secondary schools in the borough offer sixth form facilities, while several others did so until the beginning of the 1990s when the local authority decided to concentrate post-16 education in further education colleges. In March 2011 Eton College and Star Academies announced their intention to open one of three sixth form colleges in Dudley, subject to funding through
500-655: A Green Flag Community Award. Despite not being in the bounds of Dudley borough, Himley Hall and Park is owned and run by Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council. In addition to the 180 acres of ‘ Capability’ Brown landscaped parkland, the Hall has a gallery exhibition space and is a wedding venue. Large public and private sector developments have taken place in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley since its creation in 1974. The closure of Round Oak Steelworks in December 1982 paved
625-532: A Nursery Unit (24 Primary Academy ); 19 Secondary (of which 15 are Secondary Academy Schools) and 7 Special Schools . Pupils transfer to secondary school at the age of 11, although between 1972 and 1990 pupils in the north of borough transferred to secondary school at the age of 12, and from 1972 to 1982 there was a three-tier education system in Halesowen where pupils entered first school at 5, middle school at 9 and secondary school at 13. The borough had well over 30 secondary schools on its creation, although this
750-481: A baron's possessions; and it also showed to what extent he had under-tenants and the identities of the under-tenants. This was of great importance to William, not only for military reasons but also because of his resolve to command the personal loyalty of the under-tenants (though the "men" of their lords) by making them swear allegiance to him. As Domesday Book normally records only the Christian name of an under-tenant, it
875-683: A comprehensive school). The sole independent school in the borough is the Elmfield Rudolf Steiner School in Stourbridge, which follows the Steiner Waldorf curriculum. The Old Swinford Hospital school in Stourbridge is one of only 34 state-funded boarding schools in England, with education being funded by the local education authority (LEA). The main NHS hospital serving the borough
1000-415: A definitive reference point as to property holdings across the nation, in case such evidence was needed in disputes over Crown ownership. The Domesday survey, therefore, recorded the names of the new holders of lands and the assessments on which their tax was to be paid. But it did more than this; by the king's instructions, it endeavoured to make a national valuation list, estimating the annual value of all
1125-461: A focus on higher level engineering courses, it partners Dudley College of Technology , University of Wolverhampton , University of Worcester , In-Comm Training Services Limited and Avensys UK Limited. A Higher Education Centre for Health & Care is proposed as a partnership between Dudley College of Technology and University of Worcester and expected to be open for Autumn 2024. There are 104 Dudley Council schools: 78 Primary, 40 of which include
1250-646: A grant of charter to become a municipal borough in 1936. In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972 , Halesowen was incorporated into the new Dudley Metropolitan Borough , in the Metropolitan county of the West Midlands . Halesowen was once served by a railway line – in reality two lines which met at an end-on junction at the station. The first was a branch of the Great Western Railway from Old Hill to Halesowen, opened in 1878, followed in 1883 by
1375-512: A great political convulsion such as the Norman Conquest, and the following wholesale confiscation of landed estates, William needed to reassert that the rights of the Crown, which he claimed to have inherited, had not suffered in the process. His Norman followers tended to evade the liabilities of their English predecessors. Historians believe the survey was to aid William in establishing certainty and
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#17328447300921500-456: A large number of nail makers. Halesowen also had, along with most other areas of the Black Country, a large number of above and underground coal mines. In more recent years, the arrival of a junction of the motorway network allowed Halesowen to attract a number of large organisations to the town. Sandvik 's UK headquarters are located here as well as Somers Forge, mFortune, SomersTotalKare and
1625-565: A mill for every forty-six peasant households and implies a great increase in the consumption of baked bread in place of boiled and unground porridge . The book also lists 28,000 slaves , a smaller number than had been enumerated in 1066. In the Domesday Book, scribes' orthography was heavily geared towards French, most lacking k and w, regulated forms for sounds / ð / and / θ / and ending many hard consonant words with e as they were accustomed to do with most dialects of French at
1750-621: A number of homes for private sale. In November 2021 Dudley Council was named homebuilder of the year (organisations with 16,000 homes or more category) at the Inside Housing UK Housing Awards. There are two further education colleges in the Dudley Borough: Dudley College of Technology , Halesowen College . The borough is also home to the King Edward VI sixth form college in Stourbridge, originally
1875-534: A research facility for the development of VLR technologies and projects. The centre will redevelop the former Dudley Railway Station and reconnect the town with the National Rail Network. The DY5 Business and Innovation Enterprise Zone was launched in 2017 with the ambition to create 7,000 new jobs over 25 years. The zone is centred around the Brierley Hill area. The Dudley Townscape Heritage programme
2000-600: A rugby union club called Old Halesonians and a hockey club also named Old Halesonians. Halesowen Town F.C. are the town's non-league football club and play their home matches at The Grove on Old Hawne Lane. The first team transferred from the Southern League Division One Central to the Northern Premier League Division One Midlands for the 2021/2022 season. Halesowen Cricket Club are based at Seth Somers Park just off
2125-583: A section jointly owned by the Great Western and the Midland Railway (though worked mostly by the latter), linking the town with Northfield on the Midland Railway's Birmingham to Bristol main line, with intermediate stations at Rubery , Hunnington , and a workmen's halt at Longbridge serving the car factories (not to be confused with the present Longbridge station). Being largely rural in character,
2250-495: A seventh circuit for the Little Domesday shires). Three sources discuss the goal of the survey : After this had the king a large meeting, and very deep consultation with his council, about this land; how it was occupied, and by what sort of men. Then sent he his men over all England into each shire; commissioning them to find out 'How many hundreds of hides were in the shire, what land the king himself had, and what stock upon
2375-492: A shift in focus towards the service sector (accounting for 79.1% of employment) and tourism . Despite this, there are still numerous large industrial sites around the borough, such as the Pensnett Trading Estate , with the manufacturing industries making up 15.3% of employment. Tourism is of increasing importance to the local economy, with approximately 6,600 people employed within the sector. Attractions such as
2500-402: A subject of historical debate. Sir Michael Postan , for instance, contends that these may not represent all rural households, but only full peasant tenancies, thus excluding landless men and some subtenants (potentially a third of the country's population). H. C. Darby , when factoring in the excluded households and using various different criteria for those excluded (as well as varying sizes for
2625-534: A time after the Great Fire of London . From the 1740s onwards, they were held, with other Exchequer records, in the chapter house of Westminster Abbey . In 1859, they were transferred to the new Public Record Office , London. They are now held at the National Archives at Kew. The chest in which they were stowed in the 17th and 18th centuries is also at Kew. In modern times, the books have been removed from
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#17328447300922750-536: A town, where separately-recorded properties had been demolished to make way for a castle. Early British authors thought that the motivation behind the Survey was to put into William's power the lands, so that all private property in land came only from the grant of King William, by lawful forfeiture. The use of the word antecessor in the Domesday Book is used for the former holders of the lands under Edward , and who had been dispossessed by their new owners. Domesday Book
2875-462: A £30 million regeneration of part of its town centre, which has included the construction of a new Asda supermarket located in the Cornbow Centre, together with a new multi-storey car park , a rebuilt bus station and improvements to the road layout. The principal industry of Halesowen was traditionally nail making, an industry that was performed on a small scale individually in the backyards of
3000-430: A £4million scheme. The former Sessions Court in the same complext of buildings been converted into Brookes Bistro restaurant. Named for Brooke Robinson who was a former MP and coroner for Dudley and left a bequest which led to the building for the former Museum and Art Gallery , Town Hall and Coroners Court. Relatively little new council housing has been built in the borough since the early 1980s, with almost all of
3125-683: Is Russells Hall Hospital , situated to the south of Dudley town centre. Following a major expansion of the hospital in 2005, all inpatient services were transferred to the site from smaller hospitals around the borough, resulting in the closure of Wordsley Hospital , and the downgrading of the Guest Hospital and Corbett hospitals into outpatient centres. Psychiatric care is offered at the Bushey Fields Hospital , located adjacent to Russells Hall Hospital. Domesday Book Domesday Book ( / ˈ d uː m z d eɪ / DOOMZ -day ;
3250-463: Is a metropolitan borough of West Midlands , England. It was created in 1974 following the Local Government Act 1972 , through a merger of the existing Dudley County Borough with the municipal boroughs of Stourbridge and Halesowen . The borough's main settlement is Dudley but it also includes the outlying towns of Brierley Hill , Halesowen , Kingswinford , Lye , Netherton , Sedgley , and Stourbridge . The borough borders Sandwell to
3375-546: Is also based at the Manor Abbey Sports Ground with four floodlit, artificial clay courts available for use by members. Halesowen Leisure Centre on Pool Road includes a swimming pool and gym and is used by a number of local clubs, including Halesowen Swimming Club, Halesowen Triathlon Club and Cobra Running and Triathlon Club. [REDACTED] Media related to Halesowen at Wikimedia Commons Metropolitan Borough of Dudley The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley
3500-471: Is considered one of the largest towns in the United Kingdom without a railway station. The nearest railway stations are Rowley Regis, Stourbridge Junction , Cradley Heath and Old Hill . There are currently 15 primary schools, 3 secondary schools and a further education college situated within the district of Halesowen. Newfield Park Primary School primary school located in Halesowen, was built during
3625-401: Is devoted to the somewhat arid details of the assessment and valuation of rural estates, which were as yet the only important source of national wealth. After stating the assessment of the manor , the record sets forth the amount of arable land , and the number of plough teams (each reckoned at eight oxen) available for working it, with the additional number (if any) that might be employed; then
3750-458: Is examined more closely, perplexities and difficulties arise." One problem is that the clerks who compiled this document "were but human; they were frequently forgetful or confused." The use of Roman numerals also led to countless mistakes. Darby states, "Anyone who attempts an arithmetical exercise in Roman numerals soon sees something of the difficulties that faced the clerks." But more important are
3875-548: Is not possible to search for the surnames of families claiming a Norman origin. Scholars, however, have worked to identify the under-tenants, most of whom have foreign Christian names. The survey provided the King with information on potential sources of funds when he needed to raise money. It includes sources of income but not expenses, such as castles, unless they needed to be included to explain discrepancies between pre-and post-Conquest holdings of individuals. Typically, this happened in
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4000-506: Is of great illustrative importance. The Inquisitio Eliensis is a record of the lands of Ely Abbey . The Exon Domesday (named because the volume was held at Exeter ) covers Cornwall , Devon, Dorset , Somerset, and one manor of Wiltshire . Parts of Devon, Dorset, and Somerset are also missing. Otherwise, this contains the full details supplied by the original returns. Through comparison of what details are recorded in which counties, six Great Domesday "circuits" can be determined (plus
4125-471: Is on ongoing programme of work improving historical buildings in Dudley town centre. Phase 1 ran from 2008-2015, phase 2 from 2017-2023. Phase 2 started following a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of £1.2 million. As part of the programme historic buildings were identified, repaired or restored. Heritage trails and open days were also developed. In addition, further development of the former Dudley Museum and Art Gallery site has been proposed as part of
4250-661: Is on the Hagley Road Bus Corridor from Birmingham to Stourbridge (route 9), the Merry Hill Shopping Centre (route 002, 13, 17H, 24H, 142/142A and X10) and Dudley (route 14 and 19). Service 4H operates from Hayley Green to Walsall via Blackheath and West Bromwich . Halesowen Bus Station is located on Queensway, next to the Asda supermarket and Job Centre Plus . Most services are operated by National Express West Midlands and Diamond Bus . Halesowen
4375-470: Is the oldest 'public record' in England and probably the most remarkable statistical document in the history of Europe. The continent has no document to compare with this detailed description covering so great a stretch of territory. And the geographer, as he turns over the folios, with their details of population and of arable, woodland, meadow and other resources, cannot but be excited at the vast amount of information that passes before his eyes. The author of
4500-673: The 2011 Census , was 58,135. Halesowen is in the Halesowen parliamentary constituency. Halesowen was a detached part of the county of Shropshire but was incorporated into Worcestershire in 1844 by the Counties (Detached Parts) Act . Since the local government reorganisation of 1974 it has formed a part of the West Midlands Metropolitan county and Conurbation , in the Dudley Metropolitan Borough , which it joined at
4625-604: The Black Country Living Museum and Dudley Zoo bring in hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. The Merry Hill Shopping Centre in Brierley Hill is one of the largest shopping centres in the UK and is the main retail centre of the borough, with an average of 23.5 million visitors a year, and houses branches of several large retailers including Primark , Marks & Spencer , and Next . Other large employers in
4750-617: The Department for Education’s Free Schools Programme. Since the University of Wolverhampton closed its Dudley campus in 2002, the metropolitan borough is the largest district in the UK without its own university. Several projects in the Castle Hill area of the Dudley are now linking with local universities. The Black Country & Marches Institute of Technology opened in September 2021, with
4875-449: The Local Government Act 1985 , and Dudley effectively became a unitary authority . Dudley Council has its main offices in Dudley town centre (where Dudley Council House is located), along with additional smaller offices throughout the borough. The council is made up of 72 councillors representing 24 wards . On its formation in 1974, the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley was controlled by
5000-409: The Merry Hill Shopping Centre some 5 miles (8 km) away at Brierley Hill was developed, although not as severely as it declined in Stourbridge and in particular Dudley . The only high-profile casualty was the J Sainsbury supermarket, which closed in 1992 due to the popularity of the store which had opened at Merry Hill three years earlier to succeed the Dudley store – combined with the onset of
5125-622: The Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of King William the Conqueror . The manuscript was originally known by the Latin name Liber de Wintonia , meaning "Book of Winchester ", where it was originally kept in the royal treasury. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that in 1085
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5250-657: The Sutton Coldfield and local relay transmitters. Halesowen is served by local editions of two regional evening papers, the Birmingham-based Evening Mail and the Wolverhampton-based Express & Star . There are two local free weekly newspapers delivered to every household in Halesowen, The Halesowen News and The Halesowen Chronicle . The Halesowen area is served by the following local and regional radio stations: Halesowen has
5375-621: The United Kingdom . Domesday Book encompasses two independent works (originally in two physical volumes): "Little Domesday" (covering Norfolk , Suffolk , and Essex ), and "Great Domesday" (covering much of the remainder of England – except for lands in the north that later became Westmorland , Cumberland , Northumberland , and the County Palatine of Durham – and parts of Wales bordering and included within English counties). Space
5500-472: The geld , and the framework for Domesday Book was geld assessment lists. "Little Domesday", so named because its format is physically smaller than its companion's, is more detailed than Great Domesday. In particular, it includes the numbers of livestock on the home farms ( demesnes ) of lords, but not peasant livestock. It represents an earlier stage in processing the results of the Domesday Survey before
5625-420: The hundred or wapentake in which they lay, hundreds (wapentakes in eastern England) being the second tier of local government within the counties. Each county's list opened with the king's demesne, which had possibly been the subject of separate inquiry. Under the feudal system, the king was the only true "owner" of land in England by virtue of his allodial title . He was thus the ultimate overlord, and even
5750-450: The military service due, markets, mints , and so forth. From the towns, from the counties as wholes, and from many of its ancient lordships, the crown was entitled to archaic dues in kind, such as honey . The Domesday Book lists 5,624 mills in the country, which is considered a low estimate since the book is incomplete. For comparison, fewer than 100 mills were recorded in the country a century earlier. Georges Duby indicates this means
5875-400: The recession at the start of the 1990s . A further upgrading of the town centre took place in 2007 and 2008, with part of the Cornbow Centre (including a petrol station and several smaller retail units) being demolished to make way for a new Asda superstore which opened on 24 November 2008. The bus station was also rebuilt. This 18-month £30 million project was completed in December 2008 and
6000-538: The 1960s and 1970s. In 1974, Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council identified six historical suburbs within Halesowen, which they signed accordingly with a series of gateway signs. In addition to the town centre, these are listed below. A separate sign for Illey was added many years later. As with the rest of the British Isles and West Midlands, Halesowen experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. A weather station provides local climate data for
6125-417: The 1960s to serve the expanding local area of Hawne . In 1972, when still a borough in its own right, Halesowen Council abolished the traditional infant and junior schools and replaced them with first schools for ages 5 to 9 and middle schools for the 9 to 13 age group, but this system was abolished in 1982 and reverted to the previous infant schools for 5 to 7 year olds and junior schools for ages 7 to 11. It
6250-445: The 1960s, the town centre underwent vast redevelopment which saw most of the older buildings demolished. The high street was pedestrianised and a shopping precinct (called "The Precinct") was developed, housing many new retail units as well as a new public library . The centre was refurbished in the late 1980s and placed under cover, being renamed The Cornbow Centre at this time. Trade in the town centre declined between 1985 and 1990 as
6375-776: The 19th century. They were held originally in various offices of the Exchequer : the Chapel of the Pyx of Westminster Abbey ; the Treasury of Receipts; and the Tally Court. However, on several occasions they were taken around the country with the Chancellor of the Exchequer: to York and Lincoln in 1300, to York in 1303 and 1319, to Hertford in the 1580s or 1590s, and to Nonsuch Palace , Surrey, in 1666 for
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#17328447300926500-504: The 2021 festival postponed to 2022 due to the covid-19 pandemic. The Caste Hill area of Dudley is also a hub of visitor attractions including the Black Country Living Museum and the Canal and Tunnel Trust. Dudley Zoological Gardens , which is also in this area, is the second most visited paid visitor attraction in the West Midlands. The Archives and Local History Centre is now also
6625-502: The 900th anniversary of the original Domesday Book. In August 2006, the contents of Domesday went online, with an English translation of the book's Latin. Visitors to the website are able to look up a place name and see the index entry made for the manor, town, city or village. They can also, for a fee, download the relevant page. In the Middle Ages, the Book's evidence was frequently invoked in
6750-624: The A456 Manor Way. The club operates four teams competing in the Birmingham and District Premier League and the Worcestershire County League. The Manor Abbey Sports Ground on Manor Way is the home of Halesowen Athletics & Cycling Club. Facilities include a 400 metres outdoor cycling velodrome and a four lane 350 metres athletics track. The grounds also include a weights room, indoor training room and clubhouse. Halesowen Tennis Club
6875-725: The Council and serves for the whole of the Municipal Year until the next Annual Meeting. As part of the West Midlands Combined Authority , Dudley is also served by the Mayor of the West Midlands . The 24 wards of the Dudley Borough are each represented by 3 councillors. At the 2021 Census , the total population of Dudley Metropolitan Borough was 323,488, an increase of 10,563 from the 2011 Census . The population density
7000-618: The Crestwood School since adopting comprehensive status), King Edward VI Boys Grammar School in Stourbridge (which is now a mixed sixth form college), Stourbridge Girls High School (which merged with the Boys Grammar School and Valley Road Secondary Modern School to form Redhill School), Halesowen Grammar School (which merged with Halesowen Technical School to form Earls High School) and High Arcal Grammar School in Sedgley (which survived as
7125-513: The King's Court, a privilege forbidden to unfree villeins . The Abbot thus fined them £10 which was a large sum at the time, and resistance, led by Roger Ketel, heightened. The conflict was snuffed out in 1282 as Ketel and Alice Edrich (the pregnant wife of another prominent rebel) were murdered by thugs hired by the abbey. During the 18th century Halesowen developed rapidly as a result of the Industrial Revolution . The manufacture of nails
7250-609: The Labour Party. Since then the controlling party has frequently changed, sometimes with no political party having a clear majority. Following the local elections in May 2024 the council returned to no overall control. The Mayor of the Borough acts as the Borough's first citizen attending many civic and ceremonial functions to represent the Council. They are elected at the Annual Meeting of
7375-632: The London area only rarely. In 1861–1863, they were sent to Southampton for photozincographic reproduction . In 1918–19, prompted by the threat of German bombing during the First World War , they were evacuated (with other Public Record Office documents) to Bodmin Prison , Cornwall. Likewise, in 1939–1945, during the Second World War , they were evacuated to Shepton Mallet Prison , Somerset. The volumes have been rebound on several occasions. Little Domesday
7500-410: The Mucklow Group. Communicourt are the leading providers of Non-registered Intermediaries to the criminal and family courts and its headquarters are in Halesowen. Transport in the town is overseen by Transport for West Midlands , the county's transport authority. Halesowen, as mentioned above, is no longer served by a railway station. It is however served by a fairly comprehensive bus network, and
7625-430: The Open Domesday site made the manuscript available online. The book is an invaluable primary source for modern historians and historical economists . No survey approaching the scope and extent of Domesday Book was attempted again in Britain until the 1873 Return of Owners of Land (sometimes termed the "Modern Domesday") which presented the first complete, post-Domesday picture of the distribution of landed property in
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#17328447300927750-403: The Sheriff had one hundred and seventy-six manors in Devon and four nearby in Somerset and Dorset . Tenants-in-chief held variable proportions of their manors in demesne , and had subinfeudated to others, whether their own knights (often tenants from Normandy), other tenants-in-chief of their own rank, or members of local English families. Manors were generally listed within each chapter by
7875-425: The South Shropshire Yeomanry Cavalry. Halesowen became the centre of a poor law union in the 19th century, which later became established as a rural sanitary district and later the Halesowen Rural District in 1894. Oldbury was included into the area of Halesowen under an Act of 1829. With increasing urbanisation of the area, in the early 20th century, it became the Halesowen Urban District in 1925, and obtained
8000-421: The alternative spelling "Domesdei" became popular for a while. The usual modern scholarly convention is to refer to the work as "Domesday Book" (or simply as "Domesday"), without a definite article. However, the form "the Domesday Book" is also found in both academic and non-academic contexts. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that planning for the survey was conducted in 1085, and the book's colophon states
8125-401: The article on the book in the eleventh edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica noted, "To the topographer, as to the genealogist, its evidence is of primary importance, as it not only contains the earliest survey of each township or manor, but affords, in the majority of cases, a clue to its subsequent descent." Darby also notes the inconsistencies, saying that "when this great wealth of data
8250-489: The average household), concludes that the 268,984 households listed most likely indicate a total English population between 1.2 and 1.6 million. Domesday names a total of 13,418 places. Apart from the wholly rural portions, which constitute its bulk, Domesday contains entries of interest concerning most towns, which were probably made because of their bearing on the fiscal rights of the crown therein. These include fragments of custumals (older customary agreements), records of
8375-439: The borough include JCDecaux UK, which has its Birmingham area office in Halesowen , Rentokil Initial , and Midtherm Engineering . Dudley borough has an increasing tourism offer, with attractions such as the Black Country Geopark being recognised in 2020 and the Stourbridge Glass Museum due to open in 2022. Tourism and the visitor economy is an important sector to the borough, supporting approximately 8,000 jobs. Many of
8500-473: The borough stood at 3.8%, slightly higher than the national average of 3.5%. 41.1% of those aged 16 and over were economically inactive, consisting of 24.3% retired, 5.2% looking after homes or family, 4.5% long-term sick or disabled, 4.2% students and 3.0% other economically inactive. A part of the Black Country , Dudley traditionally has been an industrial centre of manufacturing , quarrying , and mining , although this has declined in more recent years, with
8625-468: The borough's tourist attractions draw on the industrial heritage of the area. For example, the Red House Glass Cone is an original structure from the 18th Century glass making industry in Stourbridge. The site includes designer-maker studios, galleries and hot glass studio. The Stourbridge Glass Quarter locality is also home to The Lace Guild , Glasshouse Heritage Centre and hosts the International Festival of Glass every 2 years, most recently in 2019 with
8750-429: The boundaries was the ancient village of Brettle . Halesowen appears on censuses and maps into the nineteenth century also as Hales Owen. In the 1220s, Halesowen had a market and fair and, by 1270, it had been granted a charter of liberties by its lord, the Premonstratensian Abbey of Halesowen . By 1300, it is estimated that the population was around 600. The court rolls for Halesowen survive from 1272 and show that
8875-401: The bus station was rebuilt and a section of the 1960s shopping area demolished to make way for a new Asda superstore. A similar redevelopment of Stourbridge town centre in 2011/12 saw most of the Crown Centre completely rebuilt to incorporate a new Tesco superstore. There are currently several major regeneration projects throughout the borough. Significant infrastructure projects include
9000-556: The countryside, for example the Clent Hills . It has extensive road links including Junction 3 of the M5 motorway , which allow easy commuting to Birmingham, other areas of the Black County or nationwide. The centre of Birmingham is approximately 30 minutes away by car and reachable by the number 9 or X10 buses, which are run by National Express West Midlands . The centre of Halesowen is home to
9125-600: The drastic abbreviation and rearrangement undertaken by the scribe of Great Domesday Book. Both volumes are organised into a series of chapters (literally "headings", from Latin caput , "a head") listing the manors held by each named tenant-in-chief directly from the king. Tenants-in-chief included bishops, abbots and abbesses , barons from Normandy , Brittany , and Flanders , minor French serjeants , and English thegns . The richest magnates held several hundred manors typically spread across England, though some large estates were highly concentrated. For example, Baldwin
9250-480: The east, the city of Birmingham to the south east, Bromsgrove to the south in Worcestershire , South Staffordshire District to the west, and the city of Wolverhampton to the north. The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley was created in 1974 from the existing boroughs of Dudley , the Municipal Borough of Stourbridge and the Municipal Borough of Halesowen. This followed an earlier reorganisation in 1966, as per
9375-506: The estate were demolished as part of the regeneration. Since 2017 small developments of council housing have been built, including bungalows, housing and low-rise flats. Some properties have been designed to accommodate those with specific physical needs or those in need of supported living. The homes have been built across the borough ( Brierley Hill , Coseley , Dudley , Halesowen , Kingswinford , Lower Gornal , Sedgley and Stourbridge ). During this period Dudley Council have also built
9500-449: The greatest magnate could do no more than "hold" land from him as a tenant (from the Latin verb tenere , "to hold") under one of the various contracts of feudal land tenure . Holdings of bishops followed, then of abbeys and religious houses , then of lay tenants-in-chief , and lastly the king's serjeants ( servientes ) and thegns. In some counties, one or more principal boroughs formed
9625-791: The home of the council run Dudley Museum . The museum is also the headquarters of the Black Country Geopark . Along with sites recognised as part of the Geopark, the borough has seven nature reserves and many parks contributing to its green spaces. In 2021, the Green Flag award was obtained by seven of the boroughs sites ( Buffery Park , Huntingtree Park, Mary Stevens Park , Priory Park , The Leasowes , Wrens Nest National Nature Reserve and Saltwells National Nature Reserve ). Mary Stevens Park and Priory Park were also awarded Green Heritage Site status, with Abbey Road Allotments recognised with
9750-459: The king sent his agents to survey every shire in England, to list his holdings and dues owed to him. Written in Medieval Latin , it was highly abbreviated and included some vernacular native terms without Latin equivalents. The survey's main purpose was to record the annual value of every piece of landed property to its lord, and the resources in land, labour force, and livestock from which
9875-535: The king's brevia ((short) writings). From about 1100, references appear to the liber (book) or carta (charter) of Winchester, its usual place of custody; and from the mid-12th to early 13th centuries to the Winchester or king's rotulus ( roll ). To the English, who held the book in awe, it became known as "Domesday Book", in allusion to the Last Judgment and in specific reference to the definitive character of
10000-590: The kingdom concerning the matters contained in the book, and recourse is made to the book, its word cannot be denied or set aside without penalty. For this reason we call this book the "book of judgements", not because it contains decisions made in controversial cases, but because from it, as from the Last Judgement, there is no further appeal. The name "Domesday" was subsequently adopted by the book's custodians, being first found in an official document in 1221. Either through false etymology or deliberate word play ,
10125-562: The land in the country, (1) at the time of Edward the Confessor 's death, (2) when the new owners received it, (3) at the time of the survey, and further, it reckoned, by command, the potential value as well. It is evident that William desired to know the financial resources of his kingdom, and it is probable that he wished to compare them with the existing assessment, which was one of considerable antiquity, though there are traces that it had been occasionally modified. The great bulk of Domesday Book
10250-464: The land; or, what dues he ought to have by the year from the shire.' Also he commissioned them to record in writing, 'How much land his archbishops had, and his diocesan bishops, and his abbots, and his earls;' and though I may be prolix and tedious, 'What, or how much, each man had, who was an occupier of land in England, either in land or in stock, and how much money it was worth.' So very narrowly, indeed, did he commission them to trace it out, that there
10375-871: The last separate infant and junior schools to merge being Red Hall in Lower Gornal in January 1997. There are no grammar schools in the borough, with all state schools being comprehensive , a system which has been universal in the borough since the mid-1970s. The former grammar schools in the borough were Dudley's Boys Grammar and Girls High Schools (merged with Park Secondary Modern School in 1975 to form The Dudley School, which in turn merged with The Blue Coat School to form Castle High in 1989), Sir Gilbert Claughton Grammar School in Dudley (which adopted comprehensive status in 1975 before closing in 1990), Brierley Hill Grammar School (actually situated in Kingswinford; it has been known as
10500-448: The latter was completed, if not started, by William II following his accession to the English throne; William II quashed a rebellion that followed and was based on, though not consequence of, the findings of the inquest. Most shires were visited by a group of royal officers ( legati ) who held a public inquiry, probably in the great assembly known as the shire court. These were attended by representatives of every township as well as of
10625-439: The law courts. In 1960, it was among citations for a real manor which helps to evidence legal use rights on and anchorage into the Crown's foreshore; in 2010, as to proving a manor, adding weight of years to sporting rights (deer and foxhunting); and a market in 2019. Domesday Book is critical to understanding the period in which it was written. As H. C. Darby noted, anyone who uses it can have nothing but admiration for what
10750-469: The line failed to attract much traffic and regular passenger services ended between Halesowen and Northfield as far back as 1919, and between Old Hill and Halesowen in 1927, though the workmen's trains continued to serve Longbridge until 1960. The line is now lifted, but the track-bed can be seen close to the town, although there is no sign of the station. The goods shed remained until recently, serving as an industrial unit though it has now been demolished. In
10875-587: The local lords. The unit of inquiry was the Hundred (a subdivision of the county, which then was an administrative entity). The return for each Hundred was sworn to by 12 local jurors, half of them English and half of them Norman. What is believed to be a full transcript of these original returns is preserved for several of the Cambridgeshire Hundreds ;– the Cambridge Inquisition – and
11000-467: The majority of migrants to Halesowen in the 14th century were women at 75%. Little was done to remove them and many went on to become small retailers in the area. The village is well known by medieval historians for the conflict that took place around this time. In 1279, as the Abbot attempted to increase labour services for his tenants (which had been fixed in 1244), the peasants attempted to plead their case in
11125-403: The name also came to be associated with the Latin phrase Domus Dei ("House of God"). Such a reference is found as early as the late 13th century, in the writings of Adam of Damerham ; and in the 16th and 17th centuries, antiquaries such as John Stow and Sir Richard Baker believed this was the name's origin, alluding to the church in Winchester in which the book had been kept. As a result,
11250-533: The new Dudley Transport Interchange and the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill West Midlands Metro extension. The 11km metro extension will connect Dudley, Merry Hill and Brierley Hill with the metro network and so to the proposed HS2 line. The first phase to Dudley town centre is expected to open for passenger services in 2024. The second phase will then extend to Brierley Hill, terminating in Cottage Street in
11375-611: The new social housing developments since then being built by housing associations . Most of the older private housing in the borough has been renovated rather than demolished during this time. However, there have been a number of redevelopment programmes involving 20th century council housing. In July 1999, four of the borough's tower blocks (two at Eve Hill in Dudley and two at Tanhouse in Halesowen) were demolished on consecutive weekends in controlled explosions. Two years later, two more tower blocks at Queens Cross in Dudley were demolished using
11500-545: The number of secondary schools in the borough fall to 21, dropping to 20 with the closure of Pensnett High School in July 2012, and to 19 when the Coseley School closed five years later. When the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley was formed, many primary schools were existed as separate infant and junior or first and middle schools, but by 1990 virtually all of the separate schools had been merged to create full circle primary schools,
11625-478: The numerous obvious omissions, and ambiguities in presentation. Darby first cites F. W. Maitland 's comment following his compilation of a table of statistics from material taken from the Domesday Book survey, "it will be remembered that, as matters now stand, two men not unskilled in Domesday might add up the number of hides in a county and arrive at very different results because they would hold different opinions as to
11750-463: The parkland is Grade One Listed, as it is of national importance. The local theatre and a Wetherspoon's public house are both named after William Shenstone as are at least two roads in the locality. The Parish Church of St John the Baptist was founded by Roger de Montgomery and stands on the site of an even earlier Anglo-Saxon church. Several extensions have been made including the outer south aisle which
11875-426: The period 1981–2010. Temperature extremes at Halesowen have ranged from −14.5 °C (5.9 °F) 13 December 1981 up to 38.1 °C (100.6 °F) on 19 July 2022. The coldest daily maximum temperature was −6.0 °C (21.2 °F) on 12 January 1987, and the warmest daily minimum was 21.5 °C (70.7 °F) on 2 July 2009. Records have meteorological variables have been kept since January 1956, in that time
12000-565: The provisions of the Local Government Act 1958 , which saw an expansion of the three boroughs from the abolition of the surrounding urban districts of Amblecote , Brierley Hill , Coseley , and Sedgley ; and the municipal boroughs of Tipton , Oldbury , and Rowley Regis . Initially the borough had a two-tier system of local government, with the borough council sharing power with the West Midlands County Council . In 1986 metropolitan county councils were abolished under
12125-577: The record. The word "doom" was the usual Old English term for a law or judgment; it did not carry the modern overtones of fatality or disaster . Richard FitzNeal , treasurer of England under Henry II , explained the name's connotations in detail in the Dialogus de Scaccario ( c. 1179): The natives call this book "Domesday", that is, the day of judgement. This is a metaphor: for just as no judgement of that final severe and terrible trial can be evaded by any subterfuge, so when any controversy arises in
12250-406: The river-meadows, woodland, pasture, fisheries (i.e. fishing weirs ), water-mills , salt-pans (if by the sea), and other subsidiary sources of revenue; the peasants are enumerated in their several classes; and finally the annual value of the whole, past and present, is roughly estimated. The organisation of the returns on a feudal basis, enabled the Conqueror and his officers to see the extent of
12375-579: The same method. Four tower blocks in Netherton are scheduled for demolition in 2017/18. In 2009, 266 homes on the predominantly 1930s Priory Estate in Dudley were demolished and the land later redeveloped with new housing. In the mid-1990s, the neighbouring Wren's Nest Estate underwent extensive refurbishment as well as improved community facilities in a multimillion-pound project funded by the European Single Budget . Four blocks of low-rise flats on
12500-477: The same time as neighbouring Stourbridge , which had also been in Worcestershire until that point. Halesowen borders the Birmingham suburbs of Quinton and Bartley Green to the east. To the south is Romsley and Worcestershire, to the north is Cradley Heath and to the west is Stourbridge. Although predominantly urban or suburban in character, Halesowen borders on green belt land with excellent access to
12625-403: The subject of a separate section. A few have separate lists of disputed titles to land called clamores (claims). The equivalent sections in Little Domesday are called Inuasiones (annexations). In total, 268,984 people are tallied in the Domesday Book, each of whom was the head of a household. Some households, such as urban dwellers, were excluded from the count, but the exact parameters remain
12750-548: The suit of Halesowen and reverting to the traditional ranges in 1990. Richmond Boys School and Walton Girls School were merged in September 1983 to form Windsor High School, a mixed 11-16 comprehensive school based at an expanded Richmond site, while the Walton site was annexed into Halesowen College until it was sold off for a housing development 18 years later. Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC West Midlands and ITV Central . Television signals are received from
12875-412: The survey was completed in 1086. It is not known when exactly Domesday Book was compiled, but the entire copy of Great Domesday appears to have been copied out by one person on parchment (prepared sheepskin), although six scribes seem to have been used for Little Domesday. Writing in 2000, David Roffe argued that the inquest (survey) and the construction of the book were two distinct exercises. He believes
13000-432: The survey's ninth centenary. On this last occasion Great Domesday was divided into two physical volumes, and Little Domesday into three volumes. The project to publish Domesday was begun by the government in 1773, and the book appeared in two volumes in 1783, set in " record type " to produce a partial- facsimile of the manuscript. In 1811, a volume of indexes was added. In 1816, a supplementary volume, separately indexed,
13125-462: The time. In a parallel development, around 1100, the Normans in southern Italy completed their Catalogus Baronum based on Domesday Book. The original manuscript was destroyed in the Second World War , but the text survives in printed editions. The manuscripts do not carry a formal title. The work is referred to internally as a descriptio (enrolling), and in other early administrative contexts as
13250-484: The town centre following an additional £60million funding from central government. Regeneration projects around the Castle Hill area are combining innovation and education. The Black Country and Marches Institute of Technology opened in September 2021 and focuses delivery on higher level courses in manufacturing and engineering, medical engineering, modern construction methodologies and digital technologies. The Very Light Rail (VLR) National Innovation Centre will provide
13375-452: The town centre of Dudley from a merger of The Dudley School and Blue Coat School ; this new school also took in some of the former Gilbert Claughton and Mons Hill pupils. The 1980s had also seen the closure of some the borough's less popular and smaller primary schools, with the older buildings mostly being demolished and the more modern ones being converted for community use. The closure of Cradley High School in Halesowen in July 2008 saw
13500-499: The town received a commendation for the work by the Retail Property Organisation. In the eastern part of Halesowen is Leasowes Park , which is considered to be one of the first natural landscape gardens in England. The 18th-century poet William Shenstone designed the garden, beginning works in 1743 and continuing until his death in 1763, transforming existing farmland he had inherited after his parents' death. Today,
13625-480: The value derived. The name "Domesday Book" came into use in the 12th century. Richard FitzNeal wrote in the Dialogus de Scaccario ( c. 1179) that the book was so called because its decisions were unalterable, like those of the Last Judgment , and its sentence could not be quashed. The manuscript is held at the National Archives at Kew , London. Domesday was first printed in full in 1783, and in 2011
13750-476: The way for the creation of the Merry Hill Shopping Centre on nearby farmland between 1985 and 1989. The Waterfront leisure and commercial complex was developed on the site of the steelworks itself between 1989 and 1995. Pensnett Trading Estate in Kingswinford has been developed since the 1960s for mostly light industry and services. A major redevelopment of Halesowen town centre took place in 2007/08, when
13875-403: The wettest day on record has been 16 June 2016 with a total fall of 75.0 millimetres (2.95 in). In addition, June 2016 is the wettest month of any, with a total fall of 221.2 millimetres (8.71 in). 2014 is the wettest year on record, with a rainfall of 1,186.1 millimetres (46.70 in); 2011, with 540.4 millimetres (21.28 in) is the driest. The most new snow to accumulate on one day
14000-523: Was 25.0 centimetres (9.8 in) on 25 February 1981; the snowiest year on record is 1979 with 95.8 centimetres (37.7 in) and the least snowy are 2002 and 2019, both with 0.0 centimetres (0 in). Halesowen is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as being larger than Birmingham . The manor and town was known as Hala (from the Anglo-Saxon word " halh ", meaning nook or remote valley), until it
14125-408: Was 3,320.4 residents per square km compared to the West Midlands region population density was 457.8 residents per square km. 84.9% of Dudley's population identified as White, with 82.4% identifying as White British , 0.3% as White Irish , and 2.1% as Other White. The second largest ethnic group was Asian and British Asian , making up 8.4% of the population (an increase from 2011 where the figure
14250-423: Was 6.1%). Black and Black British people comprised 2.5% of the population of the borough (an increase from 2011 where the figure was 1.5%). Statistics on religious beliefs show that 49.3% of the population identify as Christian (65.3% in 2011), with the second largest religious group being Muslim , at 6.2% (4.1% in 2011). 36% identified as having no religion. Unemployment amongst those aged 16 and over in
14375-596: Was added in 1883 by John Oldrid Scott although there is still much evidence of the original Norman work. A Medieval cross stands in the churchyard, having previously stood in Great Cornbow until it was blown down by a gale in 1908. Nearby are the ruins of Halesowen Abbey , founded in 1215 by Peter des Roches , Bishop of Winchester . The Dissolution of the Monasteries saw the Abbey pass into private hands in 1538. The Abbey
14500-399: Was given by King Henry II to Welsh Prince Dafydd ab Owain in 1177 and became known as Halas Owen . The parish of Halesowen , which incorporated other townships later to become independent parishes, was an exclave of the county of Shropshire , but grew to become a town and was transferred to the jurisdiction of Worcestershire by the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 . Included in
14625-639: Was left in Great Domesday for a record of the City of London and Winchester , but they were never written up. Other areas of modern London were then in Middlesex , Surrey , Kent , and Essex and have their place in Domesday Book's treatment of those counties. Most of Cumberland, Westmorland, and the entirety of the County Palatine of Durham and Northumberland were omitted. They did not pay the national land tax called
14750-400: Was not one single hide, nor a yard of land, nay, moreover (it is shameful to tell, though he thought it no shame to do it), not even an ox, nor a cow, nor a swine was there left, that was not set down in his writ. And all the recorded particulars were afterwards brought to him. The primary purpose of the survey was to ascertain and record the fiscal rights of the king. These were mainly: After
14875-445: Was one of the first instances of three-tier education being abolished in favour of a return to traditional age ranges, though most areas which adopted the system have since reverted to the traditional age ranges. The rest of the Dudley Metropolitan Borough consisted of 5–8 first and 8–12 middle schools (barring Stourbridge and Kingswinford , which had both retained the traditional 5–7 infant and 7–11 junior schools) until following
15000-576: Was preserved from the late 11th to the beginning of the 13th centuries in the royal Treasury at Winchester (the Norman kings' capital). It was often referred to as the "Book" or "Roll" of Winchester. When the Treasury moved to the Palace of Westminster , probably under King John , the book went with it. The two volumes (Great Domesday and Little Domesday) remained in Westminster, save for temporary releases, until
15125-505: Was published containing Photographic facsimiles of Domesday Book, for each county separately, were published in 1861–1863, also by the government. Today, Domesday Book is available in numerous editions, usually separated by county and available with other local history resources. In 1986, the BBC released the BBC Domesday Project , the results of a project to create a survey to mark
15250-457: Was quickly reduced as a result of the introduction of the comprehensive system a year later, which resulted in a number of schools being merged or closed. By September 1990, however, the number of secondary schools in the borough had fallen to 22 as a result of the closure of Gilbert Claughton and Mons Hill Schools and the merger of High Park and Longlands Schools in Stourbridge to form Ridgewood High. A year earlier, Castle High had been formed in
15375-471: Was rebound in 1320, its older oak boards being re-used. At a later date (probably in the Tudor period ) both volumes were given new covers. They were rebound twice in the 19th century, in 1819 and 1869 – on the second occasion, by the binder Robert Riviere and his assistant, James Kew. In the 20th century, they were rebound in 1952, when their physical makeup was examined in greater detail; and yet again in 1986, for
15500-482: Was the staple trade in the town and many mills were used for slitting and iron production. Coal had been mined in the area from at least the reign of Edward I . Dating to 1893, Coombes Wood was the largest colliery in the town; at its peak in 1919 Halesowen had 130 working mines. During the French Revolutionary War Halesowen raised a troop of volunteer cavalry by 1798, which in 1814 became part of
15625-425: Was the subject of an archaeological evaluation by Birmingham Archaeology and is now owned and managed by English Heritage . Most of the town centre was rebuilt in the 1960s to create a modern shopping area that incorporated a new library as well as many supermarkets and shops centred around the Cornbow Centre. This was refurbished in the late 1980s to create a covered shopping area. In 2007–08, Halesowen underwent
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